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December 04, 2010

R.I.P., Ronnie the Cubbie…

Longtime Third-Baseman, Announcer, and Team Symbol Santo Dies at 70

Posted by Michael Sweeney

Dec. 4, 2010

They used to refer to him – on the TV and radio broadcasts – as "The Coach" (due to his emeritus status and cheering on of his old team) but, to me, he was always what he truly was to the ’69-era Cubs team: "The Captain"…

Beloved Cubs player, announcer, and all-around icon Ron Santo passed away at the age of 70 this week. The man who played for 14 seasons with juvenile diabetes (9 as an All-Star; 5 earning Gold Gloves for his defense at third base; and with 4 placings in the top 10 for year-end MVP voting) – and who eventually lost both of his legs below the knees to the disease – had long battled health problems that occasionally kept him out of the Cubs radio booth during his service there over the last 20 years. He succumbed to bladder cancer in Arizona.

And, while the immortal Ernie Banks earned the nickname of "Mr. Cub" during his long, cheerful, high-performing tenure with the team, Ronnie was perhaps the true heart of perpetual Cubdom, whether it was his heel-clicking and tenacious on-field play, his cheerleading (or moaning, depending on which way the team’s play was going) from the radio booth, or his always-sunny hope for better for the team he was connected with directly for 33 years of playing and announcing service and more than 50 years of real-life time. No one better summed up the ups and downs of following my beloved team than Ron Santo did.

People far away from Chicago or who do not closely follow baseball may "merely" recognize Santo’s name from the reporting – every 2 years recently – that he had, once again, missed induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame (by the "Veteran’s Committee," made up these days of still-living HOF inductees; he previously was also considered by the sportswriters who do the initial balloting more recently after a player’s retirement).

Obviously, there will always be a "Best [Someone] Not [Honored Some Way]" in every such notable category – for example, film buffs could not comprehend that it took until 2006’s "The Departed" to honor Martin Scorsese with a Best Director Oscar (not for "Taxi Driver" or "Raging Bull" or "Goodfellas," for chrissake?). And, yet, calling Ronnie the "Best Baseball Player NOT in the Hall of Fame" is bittersweet but VERY accurate. Baseball stats expert Bill James puts Santo – whose home run and runs-batted-in (RBI) totals STILL rank in the top 85 of ALL-TIME among major league players – in the top 100 of men to ever play the game…and there are currently 232 players already in the Hall at Cooperstown. Some people’s math – or memories or a combo of both – apparently do not work very well…(For more – TONS more – of Santo’s impressive career stats, you can check out this page at baseball-reference.com.)

…But, here in Chicago (as well as EVERYWHERE within the widely-flung "Cubbie Nation"), we WILL NOT remember and define Ron Santo by what his teams DID NOT achieve or by what honors he personally DID NOT receive. We will always recall and cherish the feisty, truly happy warrior who overcame so much, fought through such adversity, and came to symbolize and proudly represent his team nearly as much and as well as the immortally classic ballpark he got to play in and broadcast from…

They’ve retired his #10 uniform number and fly it on a flagpole every home game ("This is my Hall of Fame!" he told the crowd the day he was so honored), but if your blood runs Cubbie blue, your heart will also always be wearing that "SANTO 10" jersey. Thanks for the long service, all the memories, and the deep, heart-felt devotion, Ronnie…

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